Improvement in billiard-table chalk-boxes



H. w. CULL-LEND'ER5 Billiard-Table chalk-Boxes. I N0,143,1 1, v PatentedMarch3.l874.

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I jfifleizion UNITED STATES PATENT Curran.

HUGH w. COLLENDER, or new YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BlLLlARD-TABLE CHALK-BOXES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 148,181, dated March 3, 1874; application filed January 20, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGHW. GOLLENDER, of New York city, New York county, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Chalk-Boxes forBilliard Tables; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in chalkboxes for billiard-tables.

Previous to my invention it has been the usual custom to employ dish-shaped boxes, arranged under the cushion-rail of the table, and pivoted to the under side thereof by means of vertical screws or bolts, in such manner that the box or dish-shaped receptacle could be turned or swung outward to get at the contained chalk, and could be turned inward or under the rail to be out of the way of the player when its contents were not wanted.

Chalk boxes or receptacles of an entirely different character, arranged in the ornamental projecting parts of the side of the table, and constructed to operate upon a different plan, have also been suggested and employed, (Letters Patent on some of which have been granted to me.)

My invention, however, relates to that kind of chalk-receptacle which is composed of a suitably-shaped box connected to the under side of the cushion-rail by a vertical pivot or screw-bolt, on which the box is free to vibrate or oscillate in a horizontal plane. In this kind of chalk-box, as heretofore made and arranged, two objectionable features exist, viz: First, the continual liability of derangement, and to get out of working order and broken down, in consequence of the pivoting of the box by a lug projecting at one end or side, in such a manner that, in the crowding and knocking to which the box is constantly subjected by the players, either the lug would be broken, or the screw-pivot would be wrenched from its seat; in either of which events the usefulness of the box is either wholly or partially destroyed; Second, the presence of the lug or projecting portion, when the box is closed in, in its normal position, destroys or prevents the symmetry of design and appearance which might be otherwise given to the box to add to the beauty of appearance of the table. I propose to overcome both these objections by my invention, which consists in a chalk box or receptacle in which the ve. Z-iual sustaining pivot or bolt ispassed through a portion of the body of the box, which is so formed, of any desired pattern or design, as to permit this, and at the same time afi'ord a greater bearing to the box on its sustaining bolt, and equal facilities for holding the chalk and permitting its removal from and replace ment in the box.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my improved billiard-table chalk-box, I will now more fully explain it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front view or elevation of a billiard table rail with one of my improved chalk-boxes combined therewith. Fig. 2 is a vertical crosssection of the same at w as, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same at the line y Fig. 2.

A represents the ordinary cushion-rail of a billiard-table, to the under side of which it is.

customaryto pivot the chalk-boxes. B is one of my improved boxes, which may be made of any suitable material, and of any desired pat tern or design as to its externalfigure or contour and ornamentation. Internally, this box B is so shaped as to afford as much chalk-space or receptacle as possible, and it is so con structed as to be provided at 0, near one end, and between that part and the chalk-space, with a long vertical hole, countersunk at its lower end for the accommodation of a vertical screw pivot or bolt, d. This bolt or pivot cl may be screwed into the rail A, or it may pass through a metal plate, at, let into and secured to rail A by screws 1) p, and be retained by a nut, o, as shown, its plain or body portion forming the pintle on which the box B turns, and its head coming to a bearing in the countersunk portion or seat of said box, in such a manner that, while the box is securely held up to its place, the head of the bolt (1 is hidden from view. By thus constructing the box B and arranging with it the bolt d, and attaching thefixture, as shown, to the table, the liability of derangement or displacement common to the ordinarily constructed and arranged boxes is wholly avoided, since, by the long bearing of the box B on the pix ot-bolt d, any sagging down or breaking off of the box hecomes impossible. At the same time, in this construction and arrangement of chalk-receptacle, I am enabled to give to the box any desired symmetrical configuration and ornamentation, there being no coupling-lug, or other projecting portion, to destroy the regularity of the design or external pattern. That portion of the box a through which the bolt passes need not, of course, be made solid, as shown, if not desired. In a metallic box, this portion could be cored out, or skeletoned, so as to afford suitable bearings at its upper and lower portion only to the body of the bolt (1, instead of to the whole length of the body of d, as shown.

Having so fully explained the nature of my invention, and described the construction and operation of my improved box or chalk-receptacle, that any one skilled can make and use the same, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

As a new article of manufacture, a chalk box or receptacle for billiard-tables, formed or constructed with a suitable hole or bearing in its body, substantially as described, adapted to accommodate a vertical screw-pivot or pintle, by means of which said box is supported, and on which it is free to turn.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

II. GOLLENDER. [L.

In presence of- PETER B. MEAD, J ACOB TELLEY, 

